America s waterways played a key role in the exploration and settle.

ment of the West. Travel was so difficult during our country s first

century that New York was closer to Europe by sea than to the

Appalachians by land. From the first explorations by canoe to the

decline of the steamboat era, this illustrated history of the rivers,

lakes, and canals that shaped the course of America s destiny recap-

tures the majesty of each region s major water highways.

Todhunter Ballard writes of the building of the Erie Canal; Don Holm

tells of the Lewis and Clark exploration of the Northwest by flatboat

and canoe; Robert Smith evokes the grandeur of the "Big Muddy,"

the Mississippi, and its role in developing the heartland; Elmer

Kelton describes the operation of steamboats on Texas rivers; C. L.

Sonnichsen relates the hair-raising adventures of steamers on the

Colorado; and Archie Satterfield captures the Klondike madness of

the stampede up the Yukon River.